How the Bible Begins: A Sociological Study

By John R. Heapes

How the Bible Begins: A Sociological Study uses a Dramaturgical Approach, borrowed from Erving Goffman. This theatrical metaphor has readers imagining society like a play in five acts: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The curtain goes up in Genesis to an empty, dark stage that, shortly afterwards, has its first performers appear--Adam, and then Eve.
The foundation of this book rests on six fundamental questions which are answered within its pages: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Readers learn how many people populate each biblical book, each book's theme, when events took place, where action happened, what each book's purpose was, and how each book was composed. These books chronicled the passage of travelers who first departed Mesopotamia in search of the promised land, and later they left Egypt after four hundred years of slavery. Guided by God, these people formed a nation out of these epic journeys.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: May 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781725296916

John R. Heapes

John R. Heapes, MA, MSW, earned graduate degrees in sociology and social work and is a senior professor of sociology at Harrisburg Area Community College, Pennsylvania. His previous publication, Group Dynamics, has been adopted by college and university classes. Heapes and his wife, Sheila, have two children and four grandchildren. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

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How the Bible Begins

A Sociological Study

John R. Heapes

How the Bible Begins

A Sociological Study

Copyright © 2021 John R. Heapes. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-9690-9

hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-9689-3

ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-9691-6

04/20/21

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Table of Contents

Title Page

Preface

Acknowledgment

Introduction

Part I: The Bible’s Structure

Chapter 1: The Architecture of the Bible

Part II: Sociology

Chapter 2: What is Sociology?

Part III: First Five Books of the Bible

Chapter 3: Genesis

Chapter 4: Exodus

Chapter 5: Leviticus

Chapter 6: Numbers

Chapter 7: Deuteronomy

Part IV: Commentary on the First Five Books of the Bible

Chapter 8: Observations on the Torah/Pentateuch

Part V: Sociological Analysis

Chapter 9: A Dramaturgical Analysis of the Torah/Pentateuch

Part VI: Conclusion

Chapter 10: Finale

Appendix A:Biblical Genealogy

Appendix B: World History in Biblical Times and Biblical Relationships

Bibliography

To my religious and lay teachers at St. Francis Xavier School and Parish, Monsignor Scanlan High School (formerly St. Helena), and Iona College

Preface

This book’s idea came from my previous work, Other Worlds: UFOs, Aliens, and the Afterlife. This book described aliens living in other worlds in space and the deceased occupying another world in time. Aliens and the dead dwelled in worlds other than our own.

How is the Bible an example of another world? This book visualizes the Bible as a gestalt, that is, as a configuration constituted as a functional whole—a world unto itself. It is a realm distinguished from the one in which we inhabit. Hence, the Bible is not portrayed literally as another world, but only conceptually as one. I assert that biblical content constitutes another world.

In a secular age, the Bible is not a popular area of study. Although Google listed scores of studies of this profoundly popular book, sociology has not done much recently. Ferdinand Schureman Schenck wrote Sociology of the Bible, a questionable sociological, review over a century ago.

Schenck’s approach identified how God’s plan for humans could make for a better world, as I understand it. The problem with Schenck’s method, however, is that it is not sociology. He prescribed how one must live; sociology describes how people live, not how they should live. Sociology analyzes how social factors, such as race and class, affect people’s behavior. Additionally, Schenck’s 1909 book is outdated.

Some more recently published social science / sociology-oriented books on the Bible include: Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton, eds., Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts; Richard L. Rohrbaugh, ed., Social Science and New Testament Interpretation; and Anthony J. Blasi, Social Science and the Christian Scriptures, 3-volume set: Sociological Introductions and New Translation.

Although these books have a social science / sociology approach, they neither concentrate on the first five books of the Bible nor apply a dramaturgical method to study their content. Greer’s book employed dramaturgical language to organize its content table, but he did not use this approach to analyze book content. Most publications using a social science / sociology style feature the New Testament and not the first five Bible books. We need a genuine sociological study of a book with a readership more significant than any other published.

Our purpose is not to prove or disprove the validity of biblical content or its message. For instance, some believers claim that God created the Earth in approximately 4000 BCE. Scientists, however, establish Earth’s birth as about 4.5 billion years ago. The text of this book does not take sides on this issue. The approach merely identifies sociological content, such as occupations found in Genesis.

People need to be cautious in reading this book. First, I am not a biblical scholar, and many may not agree with my interpretations of biblical verses. Biblical scholars have written scores of books and produced a plethora of websites explaining biblical content. I encourage readers to retrieve these sources to understand God’s message to humanity. Second, this is not a sociological study that tests hypotheses. Instead, it is an exploratory study that comes before social scientists formulate and test their hypotheses.

This volume focuses on the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Together, these books form the Torah for the Jewish faith and the Pentateuch for Christians.

As a sociologist, I am qualified to apply the sociological perspective to study the Bible. I have taught this discipline for over forty years, and have spent hours reading and re-reading the first five books of the Bible.

The sociological viewpoint may enhance believers’ understanding of the book they consider a sacred text. It may intrigue non-believers and help them understand how this well-read text is an exceptional piece of writing. In either case, this sociological study will show who populates the religious text, what rules (norms) govern their lives, and what social problems they dealt with, as well as many other aspects of their social lives.

Acknowledgment

My sincere thanks to my wife, Sheila. She grounded me throughout this project and my life.

Introduction

How Was a Version Of the Bible Selected For Study?

At first, the number of biblical versions confounded me. Which one should I use? Then, I misunderstood what version meant. At first, I thought each was a different Bible. Later I realized version meant a translation of the Bible. Diverse groups of scholars have translated the Bible into English (or another native tongue, such as French), and each group gave their version a specific name. For example, the King James Version (KJV), published in 1611, served as the Bible for 300 years.¹ Now, among others, there is the New International Version (NIV), published in 1978; the New American Standard Bible (NASB), issued in 1995; and the New American Bible (NAB), released in 2011.

Moreover, these versions fall into two categories: (1) faithfulness to form and (2) commitment to meaning. Some Bibles are word-by-word translations or a formal equivalence. For instance, if a phrase in the original Hebrew Bible had twelve words, scholars transcribed these exact words into English, word-for-word. The second category of translators (i.e., dynamic/functional equivalence) sought to capture a phrase’s meaning correctly. They pursued a phrase-for-phrase translation of the Bible.²

Some have estimated there are more than fifty versions of the Bible written in English.³ I decided to select the U.S. Bible version meeting these criteria: most popular, best-selling, most accurate according to scholars, and most comfortable to read for beginners. Two American Bible versions met these criteria: NIV and NASB.⁴

Additionally, NIV balances the word-for-word and phrase-for-phrase bible types, and by using contemporary grammatical forms, its Bible is easier to understand. NASB follows the style of KJV, but it uses modern English instead of the archaic terminology found in KJV.⁵ English-speaking countries have used the KJV for 300 years, so it was necessary to include NASB, its cousin, in this study.

The NASB version forms the basis of study in this book. Many Protestant churches use it. Occasionally, I used the Amplified Bible because it incorporates plain-speaking English.

How Is the Bible Studied Sociologically?

Sociology is the study of human interaction. It examines, for instance, how people’s religious ideas influence their behavior with others, such as how people who believe in the sanctity of life vote to legalize abortion or go to war.

Sociological concepts make up the sociological perspective. For example, sanctions are rewards or punishments; socializing agents are people or things instructing individuals how to behave. When individuals metaphorically look through sociological concepts, they see the social context shaping people’s behavior. It is as if they see invisible marks on a floor into which people step, and they act accordingly. Such as, when a professor (socializing agent) walks into a classroom to teach students (socializees) how to dissect a frog, this instructor engages in a socialization process. Teachers may give early dismissal to students who follow directions (positive sanctions).

So, sociological questions about the Bible include: What rules (norms) guide biblical characters’ behavior? What social statuses (e.g., occupations) do biblical people hold? What is the sexual identities of biblical figures? Are there more males or females depicted in the Bible?

Because a sociological discussion of the Bible does not delve into the religious any conclusions should be academic.

1

. Ward, "

5

Guidelines."

2

. Wallace, Choosing a Bible Translation.

3

. Interactive Bible, Different Versions of the Bible?

4

. Filipovski, Bible Translations.

5

. Cambridge University Press, Bibles.

Part I

The Bible’s Structure

Chapter 1

The Architecture of the Bible

The Bible has been described as the greatest book ever written. Its readership is the largest of any book with an estimated 3.9 billion copies sold worldwide.¹ Why have so many people bought this book? The following five questions attempt to get an answer.

1. What is the Bible?

Bible literally means "book." The Bible is a compilation of books split into two parts: Old and New testaments. There are thirty-nine books in the Protestant Old Testament, while the Catholic version has forty-six books. Protestant and Catholic versions of the New Testament have twenty-seven books. (See Tables 1.1 and 1.2. Italicized names are found only in the Catholic Bible.)

Table

1

.

1

: Old Testament

Table

1

.

2

: New Testament

Why are there more books in the Catholic Old Testament than in the Protestant version? Protestants did not want books in their Bible that were not part of the original Hebrew Bible, which resulted in a Protestant version with sixty-six books with 1,189 chapters and 31,173 verses.²

2. Who Wrote the Bible?

Forty authors have been identified for the Old and New testaments. The first author, however, was Moses.³ He wrote the first five books of the Bible.